Apparatus for locking tubular members on shafts



B. w. LERCH 2,561,745 APPARATUS FOR LOCKING TUBULAR MEMBERS ON SHAFTS Jul 24, 1951 Filed June 6, 1947 INVENTOR B. W LERCH A T TORNE V Patented July 24, 1951 APPARATUS- ron LOCKING TUBULAR MEMBERS N SHAFTS Brooke W. Lerch, Baltimore, Md., asslgnor to Western Electric Gompany, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 6, 1947,.Seria1 No. 153,134

2 Claims. (0]. 242-42) 'l' hisinvention relates to apparatus for locking 'tubularmembers on shafts, and more particularly to an apparatus for locking a cop tube on 2122p winding machine shaft tor rotation there- I i In the textile insulating field, such as "braiding, serving, and the like, a filamentary textile thread is drawn from a supply cop and applied around a continuously advancing conductor in accord ance with the particular type of insulating machine involved. The particular supply cop inyolved usually consists of a predetermined amountof textile thread wound in a predetermined manner on a tubularcore made generally of fiber, paper, .or the like. It is the general r t ce in the industry to wind a copof textile thread from alarge supply package on asuitable c01 Winding machine so that .a tightly wound cop of predetermined size may be obtained for use with aparticular insulating machine. Since the tubular core on which the textile thread is wound is used only as a means of holding the thread during the insulating operation, it is very desirable to .use the tubular cores .over and over again.

In winding thetextile thread from the large supply package on the tubular core to obtain a cop of predetermined size, it is-necessary to rotate the core. To obtain this rotation of the core, it has been the practice in the past to provide a relatively tight fit between the tube and the rotating shaft of the cop winding machine. In this way the rotation of the shaft is imparted *to the cop tube by the frictional engagement betweenthe tubular core and the shaft. However, it has beenfound that when a paper core tube is pressed on the winding shaft and a textile cop woundthereon, there occurs a certain amount :of slippage between the tube and the shaft which serves to slightly enlarge the internal diameter .of the tube and render it unfit for further service. This means that the tube would have to be discarded after the'cop had been used up in a particular insulating operation, which obviously proves to be a rather acostly procedure.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of the smooth winding shaft, it is obviously necessary to provide some means on the shaft for locking the tube for positive rotation therewith and yet ren- =der the tube readily removable from the shaft when desired. In addition, the device must be such that the tube may be used repeatedly a substantial number of times without injury to thetube.

An object tor the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for looking a tubular member on a shaft. l

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus which automatically locks a tubular member on a shaft upon the rotation of the shaft in one direction and which quickly releases the tube from the shaft upon a slight turn of the tubular member in the same direction when the shaft is not rotating. An apparatus embodying certain features of the invention comprises a shaft of a cop winding machine which is provided with a plurality of longitudinal grooves along its periphery. A plurality of rollers are positioned in tandem in each of the grooves, and a tubular retainer is posi tioned over the shaft having longitudinal tapered slots therein for receiving a portion of the rollers extending beyond the periphery of the shaft, Normally the periphery of the rollers is slightly below the periphery of the retainer so that a tube on whicha textile cop is to be wound may be slidably I positioned on the retainer. When the shaft is rotated in a given direction, the grooves are designed to cam the rollers outwardly beyond the periphery of the tube, in which case they look the tube on the shaft for rotation therewith. When thecop winding oporation on the tube is completed, the cop and tube may be readily released from the shaft by a slight rotation of the cop and tube in the same direction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the specific embodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which: I

Fig. '1 is a longitudinal view of a spindle of a cop winding machine showing certain features of "the present invention and having portions thereof broken for reasons of clarity, and

Fig.2 is an enlarged, sectional view taken along line 22 of Fig. l.

Referring :now to the drawing, and particularly to Fig. l, a shaft 10 is rotatably mounted in a support I I ,of a suitable cop winding machine and is adapted to be driven at a high rate of speed by a suitable drive mechanism (not shown) associated with the machine. A set collar .I2 is provided on the shaft in adjacent to the support ll inorder to properly position the shaft with respect to the support H. The free end of the shaft MI is provided with three, equally spaced,

longitudinal grooves 13-43 (Fig. 2), which extend along the periphery thereof from the right endof theshaft and terminate at arcuate shoulders l4--l4, adjacent to the set collar [2. Each of the grooves l3-l3 is provided with a concave bottom I5 extending from the periphery of the shaft H! to a radial shoulder l6. As the bottom 15 of the groove proceeds from the periphery of the shaft to the shoulder l6, it moves' closer, and closer toward the center of the shaft so" that its juncture point with the radial shoulder I5 is nearer the center of point along the bottom l5. U

Four hardened steel rollers |'lll are ,DOSi'. tioned in tandem in each of the grooves Mi -I3 and are maintained in the groove by awtubular retainer 20 which is slidably positioned/on the shaft ID. The retainer 20 is providedwith' a plu-' rality of elongated, tapered slots 2 |.-r-2 I arranged to be complementary with the longitudinal grooves I3-l3 and are of such length that each slot 2! embraces only .two of the four rollers "IT-I1 positioned in the-related groove.- The rollers l1--l'l are of such size that when they assume theirnormal positions in the grooves |3.-I3, that is, against the shoulder IS, a substantial portion of each roller extends beyond the periphery of the shaft. The portion of the rollers [1-41 extending beyond the periphery of the shaft It extends into the tapered slots 2 l-2i provided in the retainer-20. I

The retainer'2ll is designed to have a sliding fit with respect to the shaft in and is of such thickness that when the rollers ll-l1 are restin against the-radial shoulders I6l6 of their respective grooves [3-43, the periphery of the rollers- IL -l1 is slightly below the external diameter of the retainer 20.- -The slots 2|-2l are tapered 'whereby the inner opening thereof provides suffi'cient operating clearance for the rollers H-I7 while the outer opening of the slots is smaller than the'diameter of the-rollers so that the-r011- ers-are prevented from falling through the slots. The periphery of the retainer 20 is highly polished and plated to provide a smooth sliding fit 'for-a' cop tube, such as atube Z3'made of paper,

fiberjor the like, on which a textile thread may be wound to form a cop'24-,'-tlie outline vofwhich 'i's'indi'c'ated in broken lines on the drawing.

" when the shaft [0 is stationary and the tube 23 is positioned onthe' retainer?!)preparatory to rest against their respective shoulders !6H5 and are, therefore, not in' engagement with the inner wardly: away from the center of the shaft I0 causing" a portion of their peripheries to project through the slots 2 l'2l provided in the retainer 20 and engage the inner surface ofthe tube 23. Thus, the rotation of the shaft wedges the rollers between the bottom of their respective grooves ,andtheinne'r surface'of the tube thereby locking 'th'e tube' to the shaft so thatthereafterthe tube rotates with the shaft. Relative "movement is provided'between the retainer 20 and the shaft It so thatwhen the shaft is rotated the'rollers can roll along the bottom 15 and project through the slots 2 -2 [to lock the tube23 on the shaft.

Since the textile thread being wound on the 1 tube 12' 3 is under substantial tension, the shaft It must exert sufficienttorque on the tube to overeration of the cop 24 at a given speed. The

the shaft than any other 4 tension supplied to the threads being wound on the tube 23 tends to roll the rollers [1-H further away from the shoulder 16 whereby they are more forcibly wedged between the bottom I5 of the groove l3 and the inner surface of the tube 23. In this way, thetension exerted on the threads being wound on the tubef233-causes the tube to be more tightly gripped through the cam- ;=ming action of the grooves l3-l3 and their respective rollers l'I-l'| so that a positive, non-slip drive is provided between the shaft and the cop tube.

A plurality of rollers l|-ll are provided in each groove so that each of the rollers may be cam'med outwardlyindependently of each other,

. which feature compensates for any irregularities which may be present in the internal diameter of the tube 23. The inner suface of the retainer 20 and the periphery of the shaft ID including the surface of the grooves l3--l3 are surface-hardened to prevent undue wear of the moving'parts and thereby substantially lengthening the life of the shaft. Since the surface of the rollers |Il| "winding the cop 24 thereon, the rollers IT-ll come this tension and maintain the "winding op-= are smooth, their engagement with the inner surface of the tube 23 does not damage the inner surface thereof, in which case the tube 23'may b used repeatedly for winding the textile thread thereon to form a textile cop 24.

When the cop 24 has reached a predetermined size, the winding of the threads on the tube 23 is terminated and the rotation of the shaft Ill ceases. When rotation of the shaft I 0 has terminated, it isfa relatively simple matter 'to remove the cop and tube from the shaft ID by simply turning the cop 2'4 and the tube 23 in their winding direction which causes the rollers to move into the deeper portion of their respective grooves and engage their respective shoulders l6Hi. When the rollers are .in this position, they no longer engage the tube23 and the tube and cop may be readily withdrawn from the retainer 20.

. The above-described apparatus provides for an automatic locking of a cop tube, such as the ,tube 23, on theshaft ID for rotationtherewith and for a quick and simple release of thetube 23 when rotation of the shaft [0 terminates. The automatiolockin-g and quickly-effectedrelease features of the above-described apparatus eliminates entirely the use of various types of lock nuts,expansion rings, and the like,- employed generally to lock such a cop'tube to a-shaftor spindle to obtain positive rotation therewith.

While the tube 23, on which the cap 24 is to be wound, has been designated as being made of fiber or paper, which is the general practice in the textile insulating art, it is believed to be obvious that the tube 23 may be made of any metallic material or plastic material, if desired, without impairing effectiveness ofzthecamming action of the rollers ll-l'l upon rotation of the shaft Ill. The rollers lI-ll will grip satisfactorily ametallic or a' plastic surface and provide a positive, non-slip drive between the shaft and a cop tube made of such materials.

While the above-described apparatus is particularly well adapted to automatically look a cylindrical tube on a winding shaft for rotation therewith, it may be readily adapted to lock various types of spools and reels to their respective driving shafts and to likewise provide-a quickly effected release of such spools and reels from their respective driving shafts without departingfrom the spirit and scope'of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for winding filamentary articles from a supply thereof on cop tubes, which comprises a shaft for rotating the cop tube and having a plurality of longitudinal grooves provided in one end thereof, a plurality of elongated rollers positioned in tandem in each of the longitudinal grooves, and a tubular member slidably positioned on the shaft for retaining the rollers in the grooves and having a plurality of slots for receiving portions of the rollers so that the rollers may abut each other and are freely movable independently of each other, said grooves being provided with portions of such depth that when the rollers are positioned in such portions the rollers extend beyond the periphery of the shaft but not beyond the periphery of thetubular memher so that a cop tube may be slidably positioned over the tubular member, the bottom of said grooves being shaped to cam the rollers outwardly beyond the periphery of the tubular member, whereby when the shaft is rotated in its winding direction the rollers are cammed outwardly until they are wedged firmly between the bottom of the grooves and the inner surface of the cop tube and thereby lock. the cop tube to the rotating shaft.

2. An apparatus for winding filamentary articles from a supply thereof on cop tubes, which comprises a rotatable shaft having a plurality of longitudinal grooves provided along the periphery thereof, the bottom of said grooves having a concave contour extending from the periphery of the shaft to a radial shoulder provided at right angles thereto, a plurality of elongated rollers positioned in tandem in each of said grooves, each 6 of said rollers being of such size that when they are positioned against the radial shoulders of their respective grooves a substantial portion thereof extends beyond the periphery of the shaft, and a tubular member slidably positioned over the shaft and having a plurality of longitudinal slots with tapered sides for receiving the extending portion of the said rollers so that the rollers may abut each other and are freely movable independently of each other, said tubular member being of such diameter that when the rollers are positioned against the radial shoulders of said grooves they do not extend beyond the periphery of the tubular member so that a cop tube on which the filamentary article is to be wound may be slidably positioned thereon, whereby when the shaft is rotated in its winding direction each of said rollers is cammed outwardly independently of the other by the concave bottom of its respective groove until they project through the slots of said retainer and lock the cop tube to the shaft for rotation therewith.

BROOKE W. LERCH'.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 734,922 Metcalf July 28, 1903 2,161,061 Keyes June 6, 1939 2,211,471 Klein Aug. 13, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 671,810 France Sept. 9, 1929 

